Pajaro Valley fields seeing shortage of farm labor

The question — Are you looking for work? — is posed on a placard at the edge of a strawberry field along Holohan Road in Watsonville and is literally a sign of the times.

California farmers have been complaining about a labor shortage in recent years as crackdowns on immigration and an improving economy in Mexico have reduced the number of people crossing the border to work in the state's $44 billion agricultural industry.

But until last year, when signs offering jobs first appeared in the Pajaro Valley, there was little evidence of a shortage here.

The recruitment signs posted around the Pajaro Valley aren't increasing the labor pool, he said, only encouraging the limited supply of workers to move around in search of the best deal. Like most growers, Ortega is not willing to share specifics about his operation, including what he's paying. But, according to U.S. Census figures cited in a 2011 report on agricultural labor by UC Davis professor Philip Martin, in 2009 Santa Cruz County strawberry growers paid an average of $427 a week, the highest wages of California's four prime strawberry growing counties. The other counties were Monterey, where weekly wages averaged $408; Ventura, $394; and Santa Barbara, $359.

Other enticements are being offered now. The sign on Holohan Road, for example, mentions free health insurance. Reiter Affiliated Cos., a berry grower headed by Garland Reiter, the brother of Driscoll's Chief Executive Officer Miles Reiter, established a recruitment center last year. BerryCentro's large signs direct job seekers to an 800 number and a website that promises applicants stable work, quality harvests, medical insurance and a family clinic. A Reiter representative said the company is not commenting on the effort.

California Strawberry Commission spokeswoman Carolyn O'Donnell said workers aren't only shopping around to see who's paying the most, but also evaluating the conditions of field. Typically, field workers' wages are a combination of hourly pay and piece rates, making the most productive fields the most attractive. That varies from week to week because plants don't consistently produce, but rather go through cycles of peaks and lulls, O'Donnell said.

"People are jumping from ranch to ranch on a weekly basis depending on how much production is on that ranch and what they are paying for berries," O'Donnell said. "They're doing the arithmetic, and going where they can make the most money."

Harvesting worries

Ortega predicts a drop in fresh market production, with some fruit either going to juice or to the garbage for lack of pickers at the optimal time.

"Some of the crop is not going to be harvested, just lost," he said.

O'Donnell said production doesn't seem to be affected yet in the Watsonville/Salinas region, but the labor difficulties may be more noticeable when the statewide numbers are tallied for the year.

According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as of Sunday, California's strawberry crop was up 1.9 percent compared to the same date in 2012. In the Watsonville/Salinas region, production was up 13.4 percent. But the gains may be slowing. The previous week, the year-to-date crop totals put the state ahead of 2012 by 2.5 percent, and the Watsonville/Salinas region up 16 percent.

O'Donnell said she's heard shortages are pushing up wages, but that doesn't affect price, which is based on supply and demand, not a grower's costs. She also said poor weather earlier in the year in Ventura County persuaded pickers to head north, a migration that may have prevented more problems here.

While much of the attention in the agricultural community is focused on efforts at immigration reform in Washington, some are looking closer to home.

Watsonville's double-digit unemployment rate is evidence of a potential workforce, Cynthia Mathiesen, president of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau.

"There is labor out there. (People) just don't want to work in the fields," said Mathieson, who manages intellectual property for Driscoll's. "It's not easy work. It's hard work, but it's satisfying work."

A spokesperson with the United Farm Workers said there is no shortage of people willing to harvest crops in the United States — be it strawberries or lettuce. Rather, it's agricultural industry leaders who say there are not enough workers in a effort to bring in more workers and drive down wages.

"Historically, growers have made false claims about labor shortages when they want to push for an expansion of guest worker programs or to weaken protections in the existing guest worker program," said Maria Machuca, spokeswoman with the UFW.

Machuca does agree there are not enough legal workers in the United States ready to pick the country's crops — hence the need for immigration reform.

"If rumors refer to a shortage of 'legal' workforce, then we agree that we need to pass an immigration reform for farmworkers," she said.